In an article from Financial Advisor Magazine, financial services marketing strategist Gail Graham points out that Gen X and Y are very different consumers than Baby Boomers. She says they are more inclined to comparison shop for value propositions, prices, products and the types of client experience they want. Consequently, these potential clients will be highly influenced by the massive advertising campaigns from the large "direct-to-consumer" financial services companies.

Independent advisors will have a hard time competing with large "robo" firms for high net worth Gen X and Y clients so they will need to become fiercely competitive and focused. Here are Gail's five steps for engaging this demographic and then applying them to the stock compensation guidance niche:

Create a razor-sharp message… "Your company equity compensation is high value and complicated so to maximize the value of these holding you need professional guidance and a process for making timely and informed diversification decisions."

Choose a target client… Include junior executives that will be receiving company stock and options for a long period of time.

Make the offering tangible… Do this by providing insightful and periodic client deliverables, running interactive what-ifs to illustrate consequences and tracking decision criteria to alert clients when to take action.

Package “products” for show and tell… Equity compensation analysis and tracking will identify ongoing diversification opportunities that will need to be reinvested so combine exercise/sell recommendations with an asset management strategy that fits the client's investment style and risk tolerance.

Confront pricing head on… Gen X & Y clients are likely to be price sensitive so be quick to point out that your fees for equity compensation guidance and reinvestment should be compared with making costly mistakes with these holdings.